Quick hands, quick eyes
Ten quick fingers can crisscross a string into a cat’s cradle in
seconds. It’s almost like magic.
Most people play cat’s cradle for fun. But some people believe that a
cat’s cradle has magic powers!
In Papua New Guinea, the people depend on a kind of potato called a yam
for most of their food. At planting time, children and grown-ups make
cat’s cradles. When the yams begin to grow, the people use the string
from the cat’s cradles to tie the vines to sticks. They believe the
string has a magic power to make the yams grow bigger and better.
In the United States, a game called jacks also takes quick hands and
eyes. Jacks are small metal pieces. The jacks are placed on the floor.
Then a player tries to pick up one or more of them while tossing and
catching a ball.
This same game is played in India, where it is called guttak. But
instead of jacks and a ball, players use small stones. Filipino children
also play this game. They call it siklot.
Marbles is another quick-hand, quickeye game that is played around the
world. In the United States, children play a game of marbles called
ringer. A player uses a big marble called a shooter to knock smaller
marbles out of a ring.
